The Board of Regents Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics showed little interest in cutting sports as a way for the University of Hawaii athletic department to climb out of its financial struggles.

Although a report prepared for the group by athletic director Ben Jay identified three possible "options" that involved eliminating teams, the committee said Thursday it found none of them palatable.

"None of these options seem to be very feasible or desirable," said regent Simeon Acoba.

Sailing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s volleyball had been identified in various scenarios that would save the school $533,000 to $1.37 million, according to the report. Cutting football would have actually cost the department $1.8 million, the report said.

The athletic department is currently running a $3.5 million deficit and 2015 marks its 12th year in the red in 14 years.

Chairman Jeff Portnoy said, "multiple people, organizations, including the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Legislature, the university, you name it, have got to step up to the plate and say we want a competitive athletic program; we want to keep the program we have. We want to be competitive and we need to find the resources to do it."

UH receives the lowest amount of subsidies in the nine-member Big West Conference and ranks ninth in the 12-school Mountain West, according to a 2013 USA Today survey.

The study also noted just 23 of 228 NCAA schools manage to balance their budgets.

UH is also the only school that pays travel expenses for its conference opponents, approximately $1.2 million per year.

UH has not dropped a sport since 1985, when it eliminated women’s track so that it could add softball. Track was reinstated in 2000.

The last men’s sports to be cut were track and wrestling in 1977.